Some of the masterminds behind the Forza Horizon series have formed a new AAA games studio called Maverick Games.
What’s up with the Xbox Game Studios developers? After at 343 Industries the leadership team has been gone for months establish several of the masterminds behind the Forza Horizon series (and most recently Fable developers) a new in Leamington Spa (England, UK) a new AAA game studio called Maverick Games.
The new studio will be led by the creative director of the Forza Horizon series, Mike Brown, who also serves as studio head at Maverick Games. Joining him are other Playground veterans: Tom Butcher, Matt Craven, Gareth Harwood and Fraser Strachan. The new development studio currently has 10 employees with the aim of growing to 140. According to their own statements, they are working on an open-world premium AAA game for consoles and PC.
“[Im Jahr 2021] we shipped Forza Horizon 5 which was exciting to work on,” Mike told Brown GamesIndustry.biz. “As much as I’ve had an amazing journey at Playground, I’ve been wondering what’s next? Am I staying at this fun good job? Or am I looking for other options?”
Former Playground Games employee speaks a lot about “lack of creativity”
Why did Brown and the other Playground employees start their own studio? Well, there’s no clear answer, but Brown says he wants to build a studio that encourages risk-taking and a culture that encourages employees to speak up.
“It’s a truism that you can be creative or you can be careful, but not both,” Brown continued. “We’re going to build a team where we really encourage them to take creative risks, try new things and really celebrate that as part of our culture.”
With Brown and Co, strong personalities are leaving Playground Games to found their own studio. Forza Horizon 5 was released in November 2021 and was not only loved by the critics, but according to Microsoft it was the biggest Xbox launch in history. Already in the first week 10 million players played it!
If car lovers develop a racing game, then it’s called Forza Horizon 5. – (C) Xbox, Playground Games
About the first game from Maverick Games was not elaborated. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with cars.